Calabsa
Calabsa is an Asari Republics colony, located near the border between asari territory and the Terminus Systems. Calabsa's first settlement occurred nearly 1,500 years ago, with the founding of Taria, a republican city-state in the model of those of Thessia. In addition to colonising and exploring a promising garden world, initial settlement focused on studying Prothean sites (see below). Initial surveys also indicated a high likelihood of valuable minerals in the system's three asteroid belts, which were confirmed in abundance by later, more detailed surveys. As Calabsa's resource extraction industry grew, two more republics - Silva and Cloud Peak - were founded, diversifying the colony's industrial base with noted specialities in high-grade material engineering and software architecture respectively. Calabsa today remains home to all three republics, with satellite settlements present on all continents. The colony's proximity to the Terminus Systems gives it a certain "frontier" feel, although it is within the Asari Republics' borders, and the military forces of its three republics are sufficient to discourage hostile incursions. Additionally, Calabsa's population as a whole boasts a higher than usual proportion of huntresses, active or former, compared to the Republics' average - the Terminus Systems, again, are an influence, providing both the impetus for a strong military, and ample opportunity for young huntresses to hone their skills in battle as mercenaries, even while their homeworld remains at peace. Calabsa is represented in the Asari Pildavi Union by Taria University's 'Calabsa Comets'. Prothean Sites The first surveys of Calabsa located several Prothean sites, most notably the famous Trident Star complex, near the original site of asari settlement. The Star's size, and its high degree of preservation, excited considerable interest in academic circles, and many theories were advanced regarding its original use, ranging from it being a spaceport to a giant computational blueprint to a facility intended to house a land-based mass relay technology. Disappointingly, while other smaller sites on Calabsa have yielded their share of technological data, expeditions to discover the secrets of the Trident Star have thus far failed to discern any evidence of advanced technologies, other than those used in its construction. The current theory, which has been widely if reluctantly accepted in xenoarchaeological circles, is that the Star is nothing more than a monument constructed on a vast scale. Despite its initial hopes going unrealised, the community of researchers and academics based in Taria has prospered, with the expertise first drawn to the colony by the Trident Star repurposed in establishing first-rate Prothean study centres. The Taria Nesi College, an offshoot of Thessia's University of Serrice, has its campus within the Star complex itself, providing a fitting location for one of the galaxy's foremost centres of Prothean learning. The Star, and other sites, are also a magnet for a significant tourism industry - having been so thoroughly surveyed, and found to contain no sensitive data, the sites allow tourists a close-up experience of the grandeur of the Prothean Empire that would be unthinkable in more scientifically lucrative sites. Reaper War Although Calabsa suffered some shortages and hardships as a result of Reaper attacks against its major trading partners and shipping lanes, no Reaper vessels were ever detected within the system itself. Analysts and academics have proposed various explanations, based on the available data concerning Reaper concentrations and movements, to explain this curious lack of hostility towards a significant (if still relatively small) source of military personnel and hardware, generally suggesting strategic patterns that made other targets more crucial to long-term dominance, despite the short-term advantages to the Republics troops and navies in Calabsa's resources and facilities remaining undamaged. While the absence of comprehensive data about the Reapers in many areas prevents a conclusive analysis, these hypotheses are generally accepted as indicative of a logical reason behind Reaper avoidance of the system. A small number of individuals and groups, arising mainly from several fringe Prothean worship sects, as well as conspiracy theorists inclined to reject mainstream theories out of habit, have suggested an alternative explanation: that Calabsa's Prothean sites protected the world in some fashion, either by masking its presence, or by containing some undiscovered technology that the Reapers did not want to risk proximity to. Some research has been undertaken to investigate whether such claims may have any validity, but so far these have yielded no new finds of any note. Nonetheless, since the reactivation of the relay network, Calabsa has noted a small but measurable increase in immigration tied to people who believe the Reapers may one day resume their hostility, and regard the planet - for whatever reason - as a safe haven. While these new arrivals tend towards unconventional beliefs, and a certain degree of mistrust of authority, none of the colony's three Republics have suffered any noticeable social unrest as a result. Trivia Drowned Talxu Studio, creators of the survival horror game Dead Sky, is based out of Calabsa. Category:Locations Category:Asari Republics